We figured that we would come across a synchronicity here in Aruba, and yes, we certainly have–one connected to an international incident that has received extensive coverage, some would say way too much. You see, we wouldn’t be staying in Aruba if not for the Natalee Holloway case, and that murder story is at the heart of this synchronicity. Here’s our tale.
We were here four years ago, staying at a low-key hotel called the Boardwalk, about a quarter mile from the beach. It’s a comfortable place that caters to windsurfers. At the time, the murder of the young American woman was still fresh on people’s minds, even though the case was a year old. So when Julia, the owner of the Boardwalk, found out that Trish was using the Boardwalk as a setting in her new novel, Kill Time, she became upset. The title disturbed her and Trish changed the name of the Boardwalk.
However, a couple of years after the book was published, we received an e-mail from Julia telling us that she read Kill Time and enjoyed it. She regretted making such a fuss and said it was related to the international coverage of the infamous murder and its effects on Aruba’s image. By then, she’d realized that the book wasn’t a spin-off murder story playing on that case, but was actually an intriguing time travel story. So, as a way of compensating, Julia invited us to a free week’s stay on the island.
We accepted, but because of other commitments twice put off travel dates, finally settling on this week. It coincides with the time that the Natalee Holloway story is back in the news following the arrest of Joran Van der Sloot for the murder of a Peruvian business student, which occurred five years to the day after Natalie Holloway disappeared.
Oddly enough, we didn’t fully comprehend the synchronicity until Julia brought it up to us yesterday after she finished reading The Seven Secrets of Synchronicity, which we’d given to her upon our arrival. She went on to add another synchronicity related to the case.
On Sept. 3, 2005, Van der Sloot and three friends–all suspects in the murder–were released from jail by a judge in spite of the prosecution’s protestations.Their release occurred one day after the collapse of Aruba’s natural bridge, a major tourist attraction. Symbolically, the bridge represented the feared collapse of the island’s image as a highly attractive travel destination. Even now, several people mentioned the murder case to us before we left and asked if we were worried about our daughter’s safety. So, to some extent the island’s image remains tarnished by the case.
There’s one other oddity about our connection with Aruba and this case. When Julia made the offer to us, it wasn’t for a week’s stay at the Boardwalk, but at a cottage she and her husband own, which is located on the edge of a national park on the north end of the island. For a time, the search for Natalee Holloway’s body was centered here.
This is the front porch of our little cottage. The trade winds blow constantly. It sits at the edge of a natural preserve that is incredibly peaceful, beautiful in a desert way. The ocean is visible just over a rise to the north. We walked that area today. It’s desolate, strange, silent. There are a hundred places where Natalie Holloway might be buried.
But now, as the wind blows, as the wind chimes sing, as we move into life here, we understand that the Halloway murder is an aberration. A travesty foreign to this place.
Aruba is a peaceful island. The Aruba license place reads: Aruba- One Happy Island. In fact, today we went shopping in one of the hotels. As Megan and Trish were at the counter to pay for their purchases, this guy came in with a cup of coffee for the female clerk.
“Hey, hon, delivering your coffee, with sugar,” he said.
“Thanks,” she replied.
“Wow, what service,” Trish remarked.
“She’s my ex-wife,” he said.
“Really?” Trish exclaimed.
“Really,” the clerk replied.
“The island’s too small to hold grudges,” he said.
“We work in the same place,” the woman added.
The man laughed. “Yeah, Aruba, one happy island.”
Megan and Trish just looked at each other, then plunked down a bunch of cash for their purchases.One Happy Island, indeed.
We love it here.
The cottage was heavenly..Its so nice to get away and just be. have a fabulous weekend!
This post is lovely, enjoy the pristine and happy island. Many things caused by inhumanity are "an aberration. A travesty foreign to this place."
Oh my! The cottage is lovely and the island sounds fabulous! Have a wonderful weekend!
Your little cottage looks wonderful. I can almost hear the wind chimes blowing in the gentle breezes. Now you've got me totally into wanting to read Kill Time….putting it into my book queue. Almost finished with 7 Secrets…just started journeys chapter.
Hope you're both enjoying one happy island!
I feel that anonymous has been vicious towards me, judging me without really knowing me. I'm honest on my blog and you searched it to validate your already horrible opinions of me to make you feel better about your judgment. Fine. I'm glad we don't know each other in reality because based on what you said here, I don't care to know you, either.
If you must know, regarding my brother, he was born brain damaged and has lived with it all his life. I have seen exactly how cruel "pretty girls" have acted towards him (quite ugly, I should say). I was not tearing down my brother on my blog. I was writing about a personal conversation I had with a lady who also did not know my brother.
Be glad that you are so perfect, honest, spiritual, enlightened! It so comes across in your comments! (lol). As for grammar errors, what? Because I used a British spelling on some words? My writing style is helping a co-worker get high grades in his college courses.
The reason why I don't allow anonymous comments on my blog is because I don't like people hiding behind their words. If you have something valuable to say, then you should say it openly instead of hiding behind "anonymous." Its hard for me to respect people who are afraid to stand behind their opinions, especially when they are so viciously accusatory as you have done here today.
Honestly, I did not expect such a vicious reaction to my honest opinions. I really believed that we are all spiritually minded on here. Oops, my bad!
You are right, Trish, and I sincerely apologize, but am glad I wasn't the only person on board who was offended. In any event, as sensitive intuitives, (both you and Rob), have either of you had any "feelings" about Natalee since you are more or less walking the grounds she apparently walked? It IS definitely synchronistic that you two are there the very week that van der Sloot was arrested for the murder of the other girl..and is it synchronistic, do you think, or planned, that she was killed on the fifth anniversary of Natalee's disappearance? Remember the 111.11you and Megan got at the grocery store? Which is 5? I'd call that kinda spookily relevant! Again, I shall henceforth refrain from printing an Irish retort on this wonderful blog! cjc
Hmm…. very interesting.
It sounds just lovely there. Enjoy.
I'm thinking this is a good place to step in. The point of this post is the synchronicity related to Natalee Holloway and why we ended up in Aruba. We're all entitled to our own opinions. In the interest of civility, I really feel it's good policy not to personally attack anyone.
Thanks – Trish
P.S. Those were typos, not mis-spellings, in my previous post.
cjc
Sansego, everyone on this post knows who I am and how to reach me.
I've spent a couple of hours reading your own postings on your own blog, and frankly, I have a healthy aversion of you. You say I don't know you? Well, if you are the you that you profess to be in all your self-exalting descriptions in your blog, then I certainly do know you! And I choose to not debate any person who constantly claims supreme intelligence and prolific education yet exhibits precious little ability to follow the simple rules of English grammar when writing. I will not foul Trish's and Rob's wonderful and inspiring and intriguing and uplifting blog with my thoughts about your postings on your blog. I am not a coward by any stretch of the imagination. I simply choose my correspondences with intuition, and any person who tears down his blood brother and refers to him as physically and mentally disabled and therefore you do not have anything to do with him…..enough said, in my book.
I apologize, Trish and Rob, but the lack of compassion or understanding for Natalee Hollaway, the racism remarks, and the profoundly negative remarks about women and their "need for power", brought the Irish out in me! Sansego, I am Connie J. Cannon, RN/RRT, Ret. And I proudly count people of all colors, cultures, religions, poltical persuasions, gays and strights, among my close circle of friends…because their diversity brings me insights and awareness that I would otherwise not possess.
Sansego,, the reason woman have such a capacity to fall for as it's said "bad boys" cause "bad boys" have a higher capacity for VIOLENCE,, which means that they are more agressive,,, which means the woman has a better chance of having her let's see how should we say it "bell rung",, it all about the jolly's Sansego,,,, but you are correct,,, 30,000,000 starving in Africe right now,,, some lives just get HOLE lot me air play….
The fact that you hide behind the cloak of "anonymous" shows you to be a cowardice person who is free to make all kinds of allegations against people you do not even know.
I'm not saying that i don't feel any sense of compassion for Holloway or her family. I was trying to say that her case got more attention than it should have, all because of the race and wealth of her parents. Its fascinating that so many people allowed themselves to fall into this emotional soap opera more than for someone else. That's all I'm saying.
The other person who disagreed with my viewpoints called me names without even knowing me. Just because we have a difference of opinion does not give you the right to name call. Its sad the amount of judgments fellow "liberal" minded and spiritually minded people have shown to me on this blog today. Really sad. All because we disagree on the amount of attention this case has caused.
My question to you, anonymous is why you are afraid to leave a comment on my blog. I'm not a psychopath. I'm just a blogger and I enjoy reading other people's opinions WITHOUT condemning them if we disagree. I wish people would extend me the same courtesy.
that's 48 "ours" , after a dozen "years"
good buddy Truman G. went back to his home state of New Hampshire March "03" I'm thinking it was within 48 of his return after about a dozen famous NH landmark collapses
The "Bad Boy" phenomenon is intriguing to me because I've lost a few women I thought of as intelligent to these unhealthy relationships and none of them ended up with a happy ending (a la "Avatar").
To call me a sexist or a misogynist as one lady did above is judgmental based on not knowing who I am. As a young man in the Navy, I often went alone in foreign ports because I wanted to see the cultural sites rather than go to brothels like my shipmates wanted. I had my sexuality questioned when I told sailors that I did not like the way they referred to women by their body parts.
I treat women as equal and I have always been attracted to women who were intelligent and had meaningful conversations with. This has been my life since elementary school.
My theory on why so many intelligent women fall for "bad boys" is because of how our society often relegated women to secondary roles. Thus, over time, women's true power comes in transforming the men they married and the boys they raise. Its part of civilizing men, from which they derive their sense of power. The ability to "transform" a bad boy into a civilized gentlemen seems to be a subconscious self-esteem issue…(i.e. if a woman's love is powerful enough to change a bad boy into a gentleman, what does that say about her power?!).
Since I'm of the belief that we cannot really change another person and that it is the wrong focus to derive our value of self worth in our ability to change another person, I don't understand this fruitless attempt. I rarely see a successful outcome in the whole intelligent woman / bad boy relationship. Sandra Bullock is the most recent example.
So, before anyone goes calling me a sexist just for presenting my views, get to know the facts. You don't really know me or what I've been through in life. I've fought sexist attitudes of my fellow sailors…at the risk of being accused of homosexuality. Just because I don't feel outraged at the Natalee Holloway scenario does not make me a bad guy. After all, there are many missing women who don't outrage you enough to care. Why does Holloway "deserve" more attention and outrage than a missing black woman? This is simply an indication that wealthy people are able to inspire more attention and outrage on their behalf than a family who lack the resources. I don't fall into those traps. It is a tragedy, but the New Orleans Katrina disaster was a greater tragedy worth our time than this wealthy family drama.
There as so many prejudices in your statements, sansego. You are projecting from personal experience. To help you understand what has caused women to go for what you call "bad boys", please read these 2 Jungian books: On the Way to the Wedding and the Wounded Woman, both by Linda Schirese Leonard. This way you can develop a compassionate view of what young women face in a cultural context, how their psyches are hijacked, and what leads them to what is called "Bluebeard's Ghost".
Listen, I have a hard time empathizing with women who fall for "bad boys". I've lost a few ladies I was attracted to because they fell for bad boys. Those relationships ended badly for them (not as bad as Natalee, though). Its not misogynistic or ignorant. I'm just stating my views. I've seen too many women get involved in abusive relationships or falling for bad boys, thinking that their love has the power to change a bad boy into a civilized person…that when it doesn't work out like "Avatar" makes it look, its hard for me to sympathize.
Many women go missing. In the aftermath of the Holloway case, I learned that there are many missing women of an ethnic category that don't get the same attention as a "missing white woman." Why are cultural bias? Are missing black women less important to our nation's obsession?
Don't attack me for pointing out biases and behaviours. The "bad boy" fixation needs to be addressed in women. I've seen too many girls end up in abusive situations because they were more attracted to the bad boy than the nice guy. I'm not saying that anyone deserves the fate that Holloway had, but it doesn't surprise me either. If you're going to play with snakes, don't cry if you get bit!
do agree that fox news is obsessed with missing white women. But I recall that when this whole case happened, I kept thinking, what if it was my daughter? Rich or poor doesn't enter into the equation. Murder is murder regardless.
very interesting the way things go, isn't it! the turns and twists of events and impact upon lives – very intriguing post – and the hotel story a beautiful touch –
i am compelled, however, to respond to the reprehensible comments of the reader sansego regarding the tragic holloway case, together with his comment about women in general and female victims of atrocious crimes specifically – it is both sad and scary that such ignorant and misogynistic views exist today –
Fascinating story. Thanks for giving us a feel for Aruba and it's people!
Oh, Sansego…..is murder ever a "mistake"? Should any child, regardless of his or her station in life to which he or she is born, be blamed for his or her own murder? Can her parents? Young people learn by making choices, as adults do, but adults generally have more experience to guide us. Natalee's choice ended in tragedy. She was just a girl, not an adult, and her death is no less tragic because she may have been wealthy and spoiled, imho.
So disturbing…..
Trish and Rob, what a gorgeous and peaceful little cottage! I envy you! And the stone "bridge" across the water reminds me of a movie I saw years ago with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton; she was an artist, he was a minister. There was a scene in the movie that must have been shot there. No two places could be so identical….and beautiful! Happy travels, You Two!
cjc
Interesting post. I find it very weird that he killed another girl exactly five years to the day that Natalie disappeared. I haven't had a chance to finish 7 Secrets yet because of moving, but I thoroughly enjoyed Kill Time and look forward to a sequel. Have fun in Aruba!
I've read in several books that synchronicity is more likely to happen when you're traveling. Its all about movement!
I don't think its fair for people to stigmatize Aruba for that famous murder case. Mistakes happen. Its one of the Caribbean islands I hope to see some day (I like the name). That murder case reflects Fox News obsession with "missing white women." I never paid much attention to the case, because I saw it as one about an over-privileged and spoiled rich girl going to an exotic island for spring break (what's wrong with Ft. Lauderdale or Daytona Beach?) and shacking up with a "bad boy" that ended poorly for her. Women need to be smarter than that.
Johan van der Sloot seems like a trust fund spoiled brat who thinks he can do whatever he wants. A true psychopath. Good thing that he finally got caught.
**Love** that cozy front porch with the picnic table and hammock! Have a wonderful, restful, peaceful time and sure did enjoy the travel synchro.
wv: noron
I didn't know of the murder story but those are certainly a set of interesting synchros.
Aruba sounds wonderful – 'one happy island' – like that, it's as it should be.